Pablo Sandoval lashed at the first pitch he saw, because that's what Sandoval does. He lashes at pitches with every fiber of his oversize body - and especially first pitches.

This time, in the third inning Monday night at China Basin, the lashing produced a searing line drive into the left-field corner. Marco Scutaro raced from first to third - because Scutaro is always on base - and the Giants were in business.

Sandoval's double did more than kick-start the five-run outburst that sent San Francisco steaming toward the World Series. It also offered a revelation: The Giants can survive, and sometimes thrive, when Buster Posey chops harmless grounders into the dirt.

Posey hit .154 in this National League Championship Series, with no extra-base hits and only one RBI, and it ultimately didn't matter. Sandoval picked up the slack, hitting .310 with two homers, six RBIs and several timely, important swings.

"Pablo was such a force before he got hurt during the season, and then he struggled at times when he came back," vice president of baseball operations Bobby Evans said after Monday night's 9-0 victory, as Giants players celebrated nearby.

"For him to heat up at this point in the postseason was key. Pitchers were tough on Posey and (Hunter) Pence, so we needed somebody. Pablo has the kind of bat that can carry us at times. We believe in him."

Sandoval clearly believes in himself, but he's not above seeking counsel. So after his first at-bat in Game 7 - a weak infield grounder to score the game's first run - Sandoval retreated to the indoor batting cage beneath the Giants' dugout.

There, he chatted briefly with special assistants Will Clark and J.T. Snow about how Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse pitched him in his first at-bat (mostly on the outside corner). Sandoval devised a plan in response.

"He said he was going to move up on the plate," Clark said. "Then he got the pitch he wanted (an outside fastball) and he whacked the dog meat out of it."

Clark knows a thing or two about hitting left-handed, third in the order, in San Francisco, in the postseason. He was suitably impressed with the way Sandoval rode to the rescue in this NLCS.

"We couldn't have asked for a better guy to get hot," Clark said. "Scutaro was on base all the time, and it was Pablo's job to set up the rest of the offense. He was a big reason we scored so many runs in this series."

Sandoval's resurgence was all the more important because of Posey's funk. He offered the signature swing of the Division Series against Cincinnati - has his Game 5 home run landed yet? - but the Cardinals smothered him.

By covering for his middle-of-the-order mate, Sandoval punctuated a topsy-turvy 2012 journey. He missed 53 games because of hand and hamstring injuries and bounced from white-hot to ice-cold and back again.

But if Sandoval hits the ball against Detroit the way he did against St. Louis, it's all good in his world.

"It was an up-and-down season," Sandoval said. "You have to keep your head up. I never lost my faith - and now I'm here in the World Series."